


• «-. J~ - 



v(Bm 



■ d/K '^ sj ■ 



'^=i--i« h. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. J 



|# *9&d[ ,.A\ 

i UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. \ 






FAC-SIMILE 



OF 



BURNS' CELEBRATED POEM, 



ENTITLED THE 



JOLLY BEGGARS. 



FACSIMILE 



OF 



BURNS' CELEBRATED POEM, 



ENTITLED THE 



JOLLY BEGGARS. 



FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT, 



IN THE POSSESSION OF 



THOMAS STEWART, Esq. Greenock. 



PUBLISHED BY JAMES LUMSDEN & SON, GLASGOW; 
WILLIAM BLACKWOOD, EDINBURGH; AND LONGMAN & CO. LONDON. 

1823. 









ADVERTISEMENT. 



In reading performances that we admire, we naturally feel anxious to 
know something of the face and figure of the author, of his habits, and of 
all those little peculiarities which are supposed to accompany genius. It 
affords, too, no inconsiderable gratification to see the hand-writing, or a 
fac- simile of it, of eminent men. The fac -simile of the Round Robin, in 
Bos well's Life of Johnson, is perhaps not the least entertaining relic 
among the numerous memoranda of the celebrated wits and writers of his 
day, which that entertaining work contains; but of all the documents of 
this kind, none of such length and variety as that of the Jolly Beggars, 
now presented to the public, was ever published, so far as we know ; it 
contains specimens of the several varieties of Burns' hand-writing, large 
and small, and the accuracy with which it is executed, is attested by Mr. 
Thomas Stewart, to whom the original belongs. To those who have seen 
any of Burns' hand-writing, no attestation is necessary ; the evidence it 
carries on its own face is sufficient. 

The Manuscript was given by the Poet himself to Mr. David Woodburn, 
at that time factor to Mr. Adam of Craigingillan, and by Mr. Woodburn to 
Mr. Robert M'Limont, merchant in Glasgow, from whom it passed into the 
possession of Mr. Smith of Greenock, who gave it to the present possessor. 



It was first printed along with some other poems in a thin octavo volume, 
published at Glasgow in 1801, under the title of £ Poems ascribed to Robert 
Burns, the Ayrshire bard.' It was afterwards set to music by Bishop, and 
published by Mr. George Thomson of Edinburgh, in 1818 ; but here, for 
the first time, it appears in its native and most interesting dress, complete. 
Mr. Thomson, in his work, has left out some of the most characteristic 
verses, perhaps from over-fastidiousness; for instance, the fourth verse of 
the Soldier's Song: some of the others were with propriety omitted in a 
work like his ; but the omissions have entirely or at least in a great measure 
destroyed the effect of the whole. It is a picture drawn from the lowest of 
mankind, but done with such exquisite art, that what would in other hands 
have been disgusting, is here in the highest degree amusing ; all that would 
offend good taste is thrown into shade, while both nature and character are 
still finely preserved : it displays perhaps more than any of his other poems, 
the strong native humour of Burns, and his nice discrimination of charac- 
ter: the picture is evidently drawn from personal observation. 

This exquisite cantata was introduced to general notice by the following 
observations in the Quarterly Review, attributed by Mr. Cromek to Sir 
Walter Scott: — " Yet applauding, as we do most highly applaud, the lead- 
" ing principles of Dr. Currie's selection, we are aware that they sometimes 
" led him into fastidious and over -delicate rejection of the bard's most 
" spirited and happy effusions. A thin octavo, published at Glasgow in 
" 1801, under the title of « Poems ascribed to Robert Burns, the Ayrshire 
" bard,' furnishes valuable proofs of this assertion. It contains, among a 
" good deal of rubbish, some of his most brilliant poetry. A cantata in 



4 particular, called the Jolly Beggars, for humorous description and nice 
4 discrimination of character, is inferior to no poem of the same length in 
4 the whole range of English poetry. The scene, indeed, is laid in the very 
6 lowest department of low life, the actors being a set of strolling vagrants, 
4 met to carouse and barter their rags and plunder for liquor in a hedge 
4 ale-house. Yet, even in describing the movements of such a group, the 
4 native taste of the poet has never suffered his pen to slide into any thing 
4 coarse or disgusting. The extravagant glee and outrageous frolic of the 
* beggars are ridiculously contrasted with their maimed limbs, rags, and 
' crutches ; the sordid and squalid circumstances of their appearance are 
6 judiciously thrown into the shade. Nor is the art of the poet less con- 
4 spicuous in the individual figures, than in the general mass. The festive 
4 vagrants are distinguished from each other by personal appearance and 
4 character, as much as any fortuitous assembly in the higher orders of life. 
4 The group, it must be observed, is of Scottish character, and doubtless 
4 our northern brethren are more familiar with its varieties than we are : 
4 yet the distinctions are too well marked to escape even the South'ron. 
4 The most prominent persons are a maimed soldier and his female com- 
4 panion, a hackneyed follower of the camp, a stroller, late the consort 
' of an Highland ketterer or sturdy beggar, — 4 but weary fa' the waefu' 
4 woodie ! ' Being now at liberty, she becomes an object of rivalry be- 
4 tween a 4 pigmy scraper with his fiddle' and a stroling tinker. The lat- 
4 ter, a desperate bandit, like most of his profession, terrifies the musician 
4 out of the field, and is preferred by the damsel, of course. A wandering 
4 ballad -singer, with a brace of doxies, is last introduced upon the stage. 



4 

" Each of these mendicants sings a song in character, and such a collection 
" of humorous lyrics, connected by vivid poetical description, is not, per- 
" haps, to be paralleled in the English language. — The concluding ditty, 
" chaunted by the ballad- singer at the request of the company, whose 
" e mirth and fun have now grown fast and furious,' and set them above all 
" sublunary terrors of jails, stocks, and whipping-posts, is certainly far 
" superior to any thing in the Beggars' Opera, where alone we could 
" expect to find its parallel. 

" We are at a loss to conceive any good reason why Dr. Currie did not 
" introduce this singular and humorous cantata into his collection. It is 
" true, that, in one or two passages, the muse has trespassed slightly upon 
"decorum, where, in the language of Scottish song, 

" < High kilted was she, 
'" ? As she gaed owre the lea.' 
"Something, however, is to be allowed to the nature of the subject, and 
" something to the education of the poet: and if, from veneration to the 
" names of Swift and Dryden, we tolerate the grossness of the one, and the 
" indelicacy of the other, the respect due to that of Burns, may surely claim 
" indulgence for a few light strokes of broad humour." 

Mr. Warren of London, has been for some time engaged in executing 
a beautiful eabinet engraving, from Allan's celebrated drawing of " the 
Jolly Beggars," which is now nearly finished, and will form an appropriate 
accompaniment to the present publication. 



4 -<ja/riZ$^ - 




vAvjr\ / tua<tJ~ -dlAAJQ^ 'Vt/C/d-u; ffi-SL t/t,f// 

^ fjiohm com/// ($rtt#j'v4a/f~. t 
y4^u ^ ; ^^YJ/^x ^'^^%i~, 

A/*/ ^<y /fry 4*>;JHvn AaJ CL^Pm , ' 



% * J A*. M Q/c^fy( snutwwL -£rj Jfiz 





X* J#\*J!ffc* MtneA, *nJria/- 'Ufa m a Jf^^ 

^l^^fijff. "^ *"? ^^ £**#</& fa 






And 



^ma 



0. 






At\c/ y\JuJ Jhc ' ^nrxu/t ^W o^'/h a c^oo^sax a^m 



J 'sm /XJ -haAAot uJuh wit uiaJief' /yy\Ayi <6oJui flmd 



/m 







W&/fe/~~ 




, WA^/y *«/f ween 

</~uA art A. $k wartfia/'&^KC", 




v^tx : 




W. 




^ T^ruT^ £A</a*A J*J'<*- 












'if^A /'""I ^^^ *>"4 fiJoaaairC^ 

7} MA/^l Wmid^, *^n 'fiajst&faA. 







/ 








/ — Y* *™ ' '/ ** "'" ^ffi ^^ ft**/, 



=4/ 

r 










/ T 




^aJt 






Jaw/- •/ Jim fi ^tfJij -A/ypJeJ/^sn , 



J, A/fl<& ) ioaj fad mA /dni a dfikA , 

J} Asntt , u)(Xj a/jxdd i '&£ A^A r 

STdr £ou)J<mj <$ '#J^ i /yt\M d^/dri . 

/$i/ /n m "hit j /y\ ami dijaj'ttd; 
(fJhi/K'J J*wbdwr\ } v/rn Mti/%6 wndi/jk 



/ 





(y/)4iyin) d Jji 4/ Dm /Yi^^vn ) Ad 
i //mm Mend ' /y/u^yyAJa/nA ^auad^ 

Asnd snouJ /m44 Cj/riofaAirn J'A/diAt 

Ore-/ duth J/n t C$w/t(AMdQ/yi4 /foe* • 




(pn 




] iu/tdtinJo 



r j/n 











It/YVL 



, ^w^^f^^ 









yfiu* /M<xfcA /tH'/WVy fa/isn ^-LaA/tW^/^^ 

/ > ■ ' Of / / & / // / /> V 

nlu aiMoqif; /ri^uO %Am %jl^J^ Jyyy\ tun . 






/yn« ^^w <w 







\/yi 



twt^mtorx 



(//Li Cu^fA uA*ty\ ^Chiyr^x t^zklf (n^sL j, . / c ^l 





V% y h^C*/Y\/'YY\ cksy"\ 



^dA/n /Vt*^ 4a/r\ </nnr\ gvyi . 
'WV 












7rA A am of o/n AtmcA / asr\d ^Au^a^tA^'^ 
n^M^d l Au aaym^ phi , £00 t ^l/Y-a 
^Jhx-n *y\ pun W/tj^> 4m? 

/ / // -4*- /* 



m <&A^/ / y / 





^L M)AyJlA^ m£j^ ^ 

~b^A^/> — - 











/ 




J0^ry\ Xc 



0W 






fee /woH /ju *' aaJaJ /w Ultima ^^^ 
^ Jo fAx^/hAtm /Jix_ a WxwJy-f 



UnAJd l Ai wm/d Jro' 



7 



, j/m jffa*/ u*yvt f^ 
/feeWn ptJti ^ |4y WW ; ' 

/I //ft ''//■{ / I / / 

//} J yf- / / • /'J/ / ' 

f Out M\4 ' ''JU4 AdCU AsLO^t cUd ^hjuvx 

0/1 WWvW/&- or\ ^v iiW' K 



*H Ttiar\ 



? 




WKU 



t -^o/oiU Jnt-(nM^ / n 



v 







'o a/} am 




f 



1/ nJajm Mt/ Avtc//c( 4A)Avn if (tfWrcAW 
&Ajj%asK J^ J&U ~$*t~ 4i*J . 




is 




7 ^£X £v£^ y yW- 








iX Q^f^/J^l 









tjOWA* 



Xsrx '"/m & aft ^u 
jAo ' v *0'rmAr\ <l </#jirf mJ\sOsv\ /Ax/yD ftiUtfj 




WitJ juf aJuyoJ^ 4> J< ffisL uo/t//- ^(jjwh W</^r\a^/ 



<rv\ 



.VI 



fbi Aaof wo WldH /ha/^ A/*. yAa/ > 

A^' kit Jfo Oft^ApM 




A yfl' 4VY\fch- AjArf *sA' A ' W*/~; 

n^h wMnM^mi ^*Lh** A^A^ t 






_ . i'UrTU^d 

Snsa surfr a>4M~ d/7l( t Ajil w4J $ /iA^v\ i ' 

Aua)^ AamA Jfc AA/mAlJ ' aA/^AI^ 

XP * etJifi.'OLA la 4>u*y/y\ am ' a ' &af) 
'-cor /hL-it ia -feyiasrYKxt <^y\ <l<u>nsuj s^ea/m^ 

.'■; Afi 1 w$'<m ' /*'#&. 

si/riot Aw*- jAtarf A cJtjAjiA/?//} 

yf/rrt r<fa/ x /-cy\ ^€ IjfcsTOsLd 4l^f~. 



O 






MtOsf - 




) 





















v -ujomj^ 















Mr j 



a 




















./ j,: jl, %<_ . 




'o~^ 




JA 



0X/JL > 



•c. 



SM 



/rX ffLaf.cufJ n^/p/f- A out .c/f ^chlj ■ 

^^> A yvuda&fo, was k^ </ u/aJriU 







tA-v-vJ^ 



7^ 



/ 






C^&r~r 
















wm 



'■J$C^ 









1U 



r* 






Deacidtfied using the Bookkeeper pr 

Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide ' 
Treatment Date: March 2009 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER , N C0LLECT.0NS PRESEASON 

111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



m^ 



mm 



. . ■ y 



v, , • 







Ira* 

3 * 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




in inn mi 

014 455 123 




